BBC hands six-figure payout to gender row presenter
... and it could open the floodgates to more claims
THE BBC have handed a hefty payout to journalist Carrie Gracie over a gender pay row.
Standing outside the broadcaster’s building yesterday, the former China editor announced she had settled her equal pay case against the Corporation.
But as she thanked her supporters, an MP warned that her case could be ‘the tip of the iceberg’.
Miss Gracie’s payout comes after a lengthy and bitter battle with the Corporation.
The presenter, 56, quit her post in January once she discovered she was being paid tens of thoutry sands less than male editors of the same rank.
The BBC yesterday said it had ‘put right’ the fact that she was not paid in line with the North America editor. Although she did not disclose the sum, the figure is likely to run into six figures.
Pointedly, Miss Gracie announced she was donating the money to gender equality charity The Fawcett Society, for a fund which will provide women with legal advice on equal pay claims.
She said yesterday: ‘ After all, today, at the BBC I can say I am equal, and I would like women in workplaces up and down this coun- to be able to say the same.’ But while the broadcaster admitted it was in the wrong, dozens more women are waiting to find out if they too were paid differently from male counterparts.
MP Julian Knight who sits on the culture committee, has been deluged by messages from women telling him they had discovered BBC men were being paid substantially more in equal roles.
The National Union of Journalists yesterday said it was helping 180 female BBC staff to resolve claims over equal or fair pay.
Mr Knight, a former BBC journalist, said: ‘This is just one, the tip of the iceberg if you like, in terms of the number of claims.
‘I have had BBC staff come to me personally following my questioning of the BBC on this issue, from effectively household names, right the way to broadcast journalists, producers and middleranking. The stories are a legion of, frankly, an endemic gender pay discrimination.’
The BBC could end up paying out millions, he believes, after hearing the stories of many women who claimed the man ‘sat next to them’ was being paid ‘tens of thousands more’.
MP Julie Elliott, from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, said: ‘They have no choice but to tackle it because it wasn’t being done right.’ In January,
‘Tip of the iceberg’
Miss Gracie wrote an open letter resigning from her job as China editor when she discovered her US counterpart Jon Sopel was being paid at least £65,000 more a year than her for a role of equal standing at the BBC.
Miss Gracie was on £135,000 and Mr Sopel was paid between £200,000 and £249,999.
Correcting this difference over four years would mean that Miss Gracie is likely to have received a payment running into six figures.
One member of BBC Women, the independent group which has lobbied the broadcaster over the equal pay crisis, said: ‘It is a terrible shame Carrie had to go through this. She is a hero and an inspiration to many, many, women inside and outside the BBC.’
The BBC worker, who did not want to be named, added: ‘The BBC now needs to walk the walk and take everyone’s equal pay claim seriously – as there’s still a huge amount of push back, obfuscation and ignorance from HR and many, but not all, middle managers.’
In a statement yesterday, the BBC said: ‘The BBC is committed to the principle of equal pay and acting in accordance with our values.
‘The BBC acknowledges the specific circumstances relating to Carrie’s appointment, apologises for underpaying Carrie, and has now put this right.’